Govigama
EN සිං
Reference

Glossary

The Sinhala and Pali terms used across this archive, with their script forms and meanings.

A

Adigar අධිකාරම් adhikāram
The highest office of the Kandyan kingdom below the king, equivalent to a chief minister. There were normally two, the Maha Adigar and the Second Adigar.
Ambalama අම්බලම ambalama
A wayside rest house for travellers, typically an open timber pavilion on a stone platform. Many carry substantial carved woodwork.
Amuna අමුණ amuṇa
A weir or diversion dam built across a river to feed a canal. Distinct from a tank: it diverts flow rather than storing it.

B

Bisokotuwa බිසෝකොටුව bisōkoṭuva
The valve pit built into a reservoir bund to regulate outflow under pressure. It allowed water to be drawn from a tank without the escaping flow damaging the embankment, and is among the distinctive engineering contributions of the island's hydraulic tradition.

C

Culavamsa චූලවංශය cūḷavaṃsa
The continuation of the Mahavamsa, covering the later Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Kandyan periods.

D

Dagoba දාගැබ dāgäba
A stupa — a solid hemispherical monument enshrining relics. From Pali dhatu-gabbha, "relic chamber". Also stupa, vehera, seya, chaitya.
Dana දානය dāna
Giving, particularly the offering of food to monks. One of the principal meritorious acts in Theravada practice and a central obligation of lay Buddhist life.
Devalaya දේවාලය dēvālaya
A shrine dedicated to a deity, often standing within or beside a Buddhist temple complex.
Disawa දිසාව disāva
The governor of a province (disavany) in the Kandyan kingdom, combining administrative, judicial and military authority. Keppetipola held the Disawa of Uva when he joined the 1817–18 rebellion.

E

Ela ඇළ æla
A canal or channel. The Yoda Ela, running some 87 kilometres from Kala Wewa to Anuradhapura at a gradient of a few centimetres per kilometre, is the best-known example.

G

Gansabhawa ගම්සභාව gamsabhāva
The village council, which settled local disputes, regulated water sharing and organised communal work. Revived in modified form under British administration in 1871.
Ge name ගෙදර නම gedara nama
The hereditary house-name prefixed to a personal name, indicating family, place of origin and often traditional occupation or service obligation. Still carried in many Sinhala names today.
Govigama ගොවිගම goviγama
The largest Sinhalese community, associated with cultivation and landholding. From govi (cultivator) and gama (village). First attested in inscriptions of the twelfth century.

H

Hela හෙළ heḷa
An older name for the Sinhala language and people. Adopted by Munidasa Kumaratunga's Hela Havula movement, which sought to recover a Sinhala purified of Sanskrit and Pali borrowing.

K

Kanna කන්නය kannaya
A cultivation season. Maha follows the north-east monsoon from around October; Yala is the shorter and drier season from around April.
Korale කෝරළය kōraḷaya
An administrative division below the province, itself made up of pattu and villages. The term survives in place names such as Four Korales and Seven Korales.
Korawakgala කොරවක්ගල korawakgala
The curved balustrade running down each side of a shrine stairway, carved as a stylised makara.
Kshatriya ක්ෂත්‍රිය kṣatriya
The warrior and ruling varna of classical Indian social theory. Several Sri Lankan communities, notably the Karava, assert Kshatriya descent as part of a contested account of their own origins.

M

Mahavamsa මහාවංශය mahāvaṃsa
The principal Pali chronicle of Sri Lanka, compiled from the fifth century CE. A religious and dynastic narrative rather than a modern history; its early sections are traditional account rather than datable record.
Mudaliyar මුදලි mudaliyār
A native headman in the maritime provinces under Portuguese, Dutch and British rule. The Mudaliyar class formed the intermediary administration between the colonial state and the Sinhalese population, and the Maha Mudaliyar was its most senior figure.
Muragala මුරගල muragala
A guardstone flanking a shrine entrance, usually carved with a nagaraja figure holding a pot of plenty.

N

Nikaya නිකාය nikāya
A monastic fraternity — an ordination lineage with its own succession and internal governance. Sri Lanka has three principal nikayas: Siyam, Amarapura and Ramanna.

P

Pancha karmakara පංච කර්මකාර pañca karmakāra
The five crafts — work in gold and silver, iron, brass, stone, and ivory or wood — practised hereditarily by the Navandanna community.
Perahera පෙරහැර perahära
A ceremonial procession. The Kandy Esala Perahera, in which the relic casket is carried through the city, is the largest and best known.
Pilimage පිළිම ගෙය piḷimagē
An image house — the building within a temple complex that holds the Buddha images.
Pinkama පින්කම pinkama
A meritorious act or the ceremony performed to accumulate merit — an almsgiving, a temple offering, a recitation.
Pirivena පිරිවෙන pirivena
A monastic college. Pirivenas taught Pali, Sinhala, Sanskrit and Buddhist doctrine, and were for centuries the principal institutions of higher learning on the island.

R

Radala රදළ raḍaḷa
The service nobility of the Kandyan kingdom, from whom the senior offices of state were filled. Radala families maintained strict endogamy and held land on aristocratic tenure.
Rajakariya රාජකාරිය rājakāriya
Literally "the king's work": the obligation of service owed to the crown in return for holding land. Duties varied by community and by holding, and the system bound labour to land rather than paying for it. Abolished by the British in 1832.
Rate Mahatmaya රටේ මහත්මයා raṭē mahatmayā
The chief headman of a korale, ranking below the Disawa and responsible for revenue, order and the organisation of service obligations in his district.

S

Sandakada pahana සඳකඩ පහන saňdakaḍa pahana
The semicircular carved stone at the foot of a shrine stairway — the moonstone. Its concentric bands of flames, animals, creeper, geese and lotus are usually read as a progression from worldly attachment to release.
Sangharaja සංඝරාජ saṅgharāja
Supreme patriarch of the monastic order. Weliwita Saranankara was appointed the first Sangharaja of the revived order in the eighteenth century.
Sannasa සන්නස sannasa
A royal grant, usually inscribed on a copper plate, recording the award of land or privilege. Sannas are among the most useful documentary sources for landholding history.

T

Thombo තෝම්බුව tōmbuva
The land and population register maintained by the Dutch and continued by the British. Thombo registers recorded holdings, service obligations and community, and are a principal source for how colonial administration classified the population.

U

Upasampada උපසම්පදාව upasampadā
Higher ordination as a fully ordained monk, distinct from novice ordination. Restricting upasampada to Govigama candidates from 1764 is what caused the Siyam Nikaya's division from the maritime communities.

V

Vatadage වටදාගේ vaṭadāgē
A circular relic house built to shelter a small stupa, with concentric stone terraces and a roof now lost in every surviving example.

W

Walauwa වලව්ව valavva
The manor house of a landholding or office-holding family, and by extension the household and estate attached to it.
Wewa වැව væva
A reservoir or tank. The basic unit of the dry-zone irrigation system, ranging from a village pond of a few hectares to the great royal reservoirs of tens of square kilometres.

Y

Yaya යාය yāya
A tract of paddy land served by a single tank or channel, cultivated on a shared schedule agreed among its farmers.